At American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC), we encourage our students to go beyond their assigned Medical Sciences course material during their time in St. Maarten. To that end, we urge them to take it a step further by making meaningful contributions to AUC’s culture of collaborative learning. Students who go above and beyond to help their fellow students may be awarded scholarships recognizing their contributions. These awards are given to third-, fourth-, and fifth-semester AUC students who meet scholarship criteria.
In this case, we’re taking a look at one fifth-semester AUC student who earned the Student Engagement Award, which recognizes students whose activities as part of the campus community have helped to enhance and foster the AUC culture of collaboration. Take a look below to find out how Andrew, a fifth-semester AUC student originally from New York, earned this award.
How Andrew Earned the Scholarship
- Served as a class and peer-to-peer tutor for Molecular Biology
- Became an Anatomy Teaching Assistant his second semester
- Accepted as an Introduction to Clinical Medicine tutor, instructing students on AUC’s Harvey simulator
- Accepted offer to become Head Anatomy Teaching Assistant in fourth semester, which required him to be available to all anatomy students to answer questions, prepare dissections for exams, and spend an extra two hours in lab every day
- Tutored Physiology in fourth semester and continued to serve as a Harvey tutor
- Served as secretary of the Student Judiciary Committee for semesters one through four, during which time he improved the Student of the Semester selection process
- Reorganized and enhanced the ethics and professionalism workshop given to incoming first-semester students during orientation
- Hosted first-semester students and their families at White Coat Ceremony dinners
In His Words
"Beginning my fifth semester, I thought back to when I found out I was accepted to AUC. Before arriving, I had decided to more emphatically learn and reciprocate the traits I thought made both a good doctor and person. While the journey through medical school alone demands the highest caliber of self-motivation and improvement, I set out, little by little, to spend some time reaching out to other students and the St. Maarten community.” – Excerpt from Andrew’s scholarship essay
Andrew was inducted into the Honor and Service Society during fifth semester. He serves as secretary, helping his fellow students organize different community outreach initiatives during his final Medical Sciences semester.
